3 John 1

¹The elder, to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. ²Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be healthy, just as it goes well with your soul. ³For I rejoiced greatly when brothers came and testified to your truth, just as you walk in truth. ⁴I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

⁵Beloved, you act faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers, even though they are strangers. ⁶They testified to your love before the assembly. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God, ⁷for they went out for the sake of the Name, receiving nothing from the pagans. ⁸So we ought to support such people, so that we may become fellow workers with the truth.

⁹I wrote something to the assembly, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not receive us. ¹⁰So if I come, I will call attention to the deeds he is doing, talking nonsense against us with evil words. Not content with this, he himself does not receive the brothers, and he hinders those who want to and throws them out of the assembly.

¹¹Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. The one who does good is from God; the one who does evil has not seen God. ¹²Demetrius has received testimony from everyone and from the truth itself. We too testify, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³I had much to write to you, but I do not want to write to you with ink and pen. ¹⁴I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face. ¹⁵Peace to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.

Translation notes 5

1:1–4 — Gaius, well-being, and truth. The letter does not identify Gaius with any other person of that name in the New Testament. The wish for health and well-being is a personal prayer, not a general promise of wealth or freedom from illness. “Soul” describes his inner life here; the following report concerns his faithfulness. “Your truth” means truth expressed in his life, not a private version of truth. “Children” is the elder's relational language for those under his care.

1:3, 5–8 — Brothers and support. “Brothers” retains the family designation for the traveling believers; the text does not give the composition of the group. “Send them on their way” includes providing help for their journey. “The Name” is left unnamed in the Greek, most naturally referring to Jesus. “Pagans” here means people outside the Christian faith rather than all non-Jews regardless of belief. “Fellow workers with the truth” personifies the truth; “fellow workers for the truth” is another defensible rendering.

1:9–10 — Diotrephes and the assembly. “Does not receive us” can mean that he refuses to recognize the elder's authority or representatives; it does not establish a previous failed visit. The same verb recurs for refusing to receive the brothers. “Talking nonsense” describes malicious empty accusations, not harmless chatter. “Assembly” refers to the community, including the community from which people are expelled, rather than merely a building. The earlier writing is not securely identified with 2 John or any surviving document.

1:11–12 — Conduct and testimony. The warning contrasts good and evil without adding an explanation of Diotrephes's beliefs. The truth itself is pictured as testifying for Demetrius. He may have carried the letter, but the text does not say so or identify him with the Demetrius in Acts.

1:13–15 — Conversation and personal greetings. “Face to face” translates the conventional expression “mouth to mouth,” also used in 2 John. “By name” asks for individual greetings. Verse 15 follows the Greek base's numbering; editions that end at verse 14 include these same closing words within that verse. No additional text is implied by the extra verse number.